Seven Deadly Sins
by wingedgypsii
Summary: Once upon a time there were seven people and the one boy that changed them.
1. Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived seven children. These seven children were smart and intelligent children, but they each had a tragic flaw. These flaws cancelled out whatever good they had in them to begin with, and consumed them entirely.

One child was jealous. His heart was full of envious desire because he could not have what he wanted.

Another child was very, very greedy. Her life was solely based on money, for which she threw her exalted talents away.

Laziness was one child's tragic flaw. This boy was extremely clever, but he never liked to use his gift and left it to rot, wasted.

The next child ate entirely too much. There was never a moment when he was not eating, except when he was sleeping.

There was a little girl, also, who gave all of her efforts into flirting and seducing a certain boy. Everything else she had was thrown away in these lustful efforts.

The tree of pride has two roots. The bad, harmful root was the one that infected one particular boy. His pride brought out terrible, terrible actions and feelings in him and rid him of any friends.

And the very last boy was wrathful. He was so very, very wrathful that he gave away everything he had to gain revenge on the person that had made his wrath sprout.

These seven children were consumed by the darkness of their bad, bad sins. They were seven separate souls, but one unity, condemned to be punished for their transgressions.

Once upon a time, a single, perfect child brought light into their lives. He chased away the darkness and tugged back on the curtains of their hearts, letting light shine and overflow in them.

This is their story.


	2. Envy

Once upon a time, there was a boy who never smiled.

He never smiled because there was always one terrible thought circling around in his head.

**Envy: _Invidia_. A feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc.**

Neji couldn't stand it, but he knew he had to. If he didn't, there would be more un-standable things, say, the activation of that flipping curse seal.

It was just so… unjust. Fate had given him one of the most horrible prizes from the treasure box: the life of a branch Hyuuga. He had tried to be content about it, but that didn't work. And then he had tried to not care about it, but that didn't work either. Not deep down inside, anyways.

So all he could do was to keep silent about it and not let anything concerning it slip out through his speech or body language.

Neji narrowed his large, opaque eyes.

His cousin, standing in front of him, had the life that he – Hyuuga Neji, prodigy – had always been meant for: the Hyuuga heir, born of the Main branch. Hyuuga Neji was the one that was strong enough to lead the whole clan to prosperity, not the one to bodyguard who he was supposed to be.

Unfortunately, fate was cruel to him.

And as he went into the traditional, deadly Hyuuga stance and activated his Byakugan, an old, strong, familiar surge of hate and anger, and, most of all, envy, rose up in him, a wave of jealousy that had not come to him so strongly from the day his father died.

Neji knew that however much he hurt Hinata, it would never make things right. He could kill her and still that jealousy within him could not ever fade.

But maybe, just maybe, he believed, it would make the pain just a little bit numb and null.

The resentful feeling grew inside of him and clawed at his insides, demanding to be let out.

Once upon a time, Hyuuga Neji lunged forward at his cousin, ready to brew his own potential painkiller.


	3. Avarice

Once upon a time, there was a lady who was never content.

She never was content because of her constant thoughts on money.

**Avarice: _Avaritia_. Insatiable greed for riches; inordinate, miserly desire to gain and hoard wealth.**

Tsunade knew that she was a horrible gambler, and that one day these debts were going to catch up with her speeding high-heeled shoes, which halted in the doorway of a stuffy, dingy gambling-house.

She knew she should stop before she got into real trouble and daimyos started looking for her to pay back her monstrous debts. It really was inevitable; it was certain that, if she continued the way she always did, there would be hell to pay.

But she just couldn't stop. Screw whatever had made her start this… this addicting habit in the first place, because now, she just couldn't stop.

The thought that just once, once in a million bets, she could win, drove her on. And if she won, then she would win a lot, for the Lady Sannin did not bid cheap. And from that large sum of money, she would be able to pay off her debts and still have more than enough money to keep gambling, which would allow her to win again. And when she won once again, she would win a tremendous amount, and from that amount…

It was a cycle, really, a pathetically easy cycle. And she had lost so much so far that it had to add up to enough karma for a nice, hefty win.

She was so, so close, she knew it. She could practically guarantee it. Soon, very soon, she would win.

And when she did win, she would show all those scoffing men that women could indeed gamble, and gamble well, too. And all the daimyos would be playing kiss-up to her so that she would donate to their property. And when that happened, she would smirk and say to herself, "As if!"

Tsunade held a tighter grip on her suitcase filled with crisp green bills. That suitcase, it contained her life source. Money. Tsunade loved the smooth feel of it, not paper and not cloth either, but a unique combination of the two. And the green of it! It was the green of her robe, which she had bought just because its color was the color of those glorious bills, those flimsy, soft, silky bills.

She looked down at the bamboo mat and at the gamblers around it. They were taunting her, daring her to chicken out. Well, she was not a chicken, especially not when there was a chance of getting some money.

Once upon a time, Tsunade the Lady Sannin threw down a pair of dice just like she had done so many times before.


	4. Sloth

Once upon a time, there was a boy who loved to watch the clouds.

He loved watching the clouds because when he did so, he could relax and not think about anything.

**Sloth: _Acedia_. Aversion to work or exertion; laziness or indolence.**

Shikamaru hated work, he absolutely hated it. It was so tiring and loud and annoying and it made him feel sticky. It was just so troublesome, really.

It was true that he was probably the laziest Genin in Konoha. Almost everyone else devoted their time to something that was at least a little worth while, not… cloud watching.

And really, Shikamaru knew that if he did his work consistently and didn't procrastinate, then he'd probably would have more time to watch those lovely delicate white puffs float through the air, and on a clean conscience too. But his conscience always turned off when he was watching the clouds, so that really didn't seem to matter.

Shikamaru slowly climbed up the soon-to-be worthwhile steps to his favorite place in the world, eyes already half-closed.

When he watched the clouds, he could forget about his troublesome team, what with Ino always yelling at him accompanied by Choji's faithful munching sound never wavering in the background. He could forget about how his parents had fought the other night, with his mother winning, as usual, and his dad looking like a pathetic beaten dog. He could forget about his efforts to hide his overwhelming intelligence so that he wouldn't have to deal with having even more pressure put upon him.

_Just a few more steps, and then it'll all be worth it._

It was the greatest feeling, looking up at the clouds. It was as if no matter what happened, even if he lost everyone precious to him and more, the clouds would always be waiting for him, whether they were white and puffy or dark and ominous. The clouds were almost his… well, anti-drug.

Shikamaru snorted to himself as he thought this.

As he neared the top of the stairs, he nearly smiled, although in truth he was really too lazy to. There it was, his favorite place to be, waiting just for him. He would've walked quickly and excitedly over to the bench, but a lazy sloth like Shikamaru does not walk quickly nor excitedly. Instead, he more or less lumbered over to the bench, if a person as slim as Shikamaru can indeed lumber.

Once upon a time, Nara Shikamaru lay down on a bench on a rooftop and watched the clouds.


	5. Gluttony

Once upon a time, there was a boy who couldn't stop eating.

He couldn't stop eating because to him, food was so distracting.

**Gluttony: _Gula_. Excessive eating and drinking.**

Choji always claimed that the reason he ate so much was because it gave him a strong and constant source of chakra.

For the most part, this was true. The Akimichi clan had bodies that relied heavily on their food intake to replenish their chakra supply.

Choji, however, was a different story. From the day he had started eating real food his appetite had always been overwhelming, even for an Akimichi. His clan had been most pleased and had full faith that he would become one of their strongest members yet.

His over-average consumption of food during infancy and toddler years had turned Choji into a big-boned, chubby-cheeked, healthy, and absolutely adorable little boy. But such little boys are not very well accepted, especially not in a community of ninjas where it was crucial to stay thin and nimble.

And so, from the very beginning, it seemed, little Choji had been rejected from the group of boys his age that played ninja games together every day. No one wanted him on their team: he was slow and unable to hide in small places, and the rumble of his often-hungry tummy could be heard and felt from many yards away.

Choji shook his head at the recollection as he opened a bag of his favorite Barbeque Potato Chips.

There was simply no where else to turn to, but to food. When his "friends" rejected him, there was always a massive stock of food at home that he could comfort himself with and cry to. Almost every day, it seemed, the little boy would come home, head hanging, scruffed-up, and dirty, sometimes with tears running down his face. And almost every day, it seemed, he would climb onto the kitchen counter to reach the human-sized cookie jar, or the clan-sized bag of chips, or a large variety of other snacks.

And to Choji, food was so interesting. Whatever he missed out on of the games, he believed, could always be made up while he experienced all those wonderful flavors and textures in food: salty, sweet, crunchy, spicy, bubby, sour, tangy, juicy, bitter, bland, crispy, tart…

Choji sat munching, finishing his bag of chips. It would be nice, he supposed, to play with the other children for a change. But for now, he really didn't mind in the least bit.

Once upon a time, Akimichi Choji opened another Super-Sized bag of Barbeque Potato Chips.


	6. Lust

Once upon a time, there was a girl who didn't think she was good enough.

She didn't think that she was good enough because the boy of her dreams never gave her a first glance, not to speak of second glances.

**Lust: _Luxuria_. Uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness.**

Sakura had once thought that she was decently pretty, when she had still been friends with Ino, but now she didn't think anything of the sort.

Her red dress was slightly crinkled at the hem. She gasped and straightened it out to perfection.

Back in those days, she knew that she was no beauty pageant queen and no fairy princess bride lookalike, but she had believed that even despite her abnormally large forehead, she still could pass for "pretty". After all, she had the most uniquely green eyes and pink hair in Konoha, with a complexion that could rival a rose petal.

Really, she truly lived up to her name.

But one glance at Uchiha Sasuke and she knew that she wasn't pretty at all. Sasuke was so handsome with his opal orbs and matching silky hair. Every part of him was absolutely flawless.

There is nothing that can make a person feel ugly than when they look into the eyes of someone who is divinely beautiful. And Sasuke was divinely beautiful.

Sakura carefully tied the red ribbon in her hair at a jaunty angle, making sure every single strand of pink was perfect and in place.

And the way Sasuke carried himself – with pride, arrogance, and more mysteriousness than anything – made her absolutely swoon for him. It was a way that she knew she could never carry herself. She wanted to feel his perfectly sculpted arms holding her close to himself, wanted to sense his smooth cheek against hers, and most of all, wanted to taste his manly lips pressing on her own.

Uchiha Sasuke could put the cherry blossoms to shame, one by one.

Sakura opened her door and stepped out onto the street, her wintergreen eyes looking for one person only. Where the hell was he? So often she had imagined him here in front of her, waiting for her with a bouquet of newly-bloomed red roses… oh, there he was!!

Once upon a time, Haruno Sakura sauntered down the street, playing for the attention of a certain boy.


End file.
